Discovery in Practice

Civil Procedure

This is a tutorial lecture that introduces discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fist, I give an overview of five of the most important discovery devices, namely depositions, interrogatories, document requests, physical and mental examinations, and requests for admission. Second, I briefly describe mandatory initial disclosure obligations. Next, I discuss the three components that define the scope of discovery: relevance, privilege, and proportionality. And finally I discuss motions for protective orders, motions to compel, and sanctions--all in the context of how litigators handle discovery requests that are improper. Because this episode focuses on the basic issues of practice, I do not cover here deep history, ethical constraints, or more advanced issues of e-discovery, production methods, 30(b)(6) depositions, etc.